On 4/7/08 we spoke with Iris Pink regarding our move from Grand Rapids, MI to Round Rock, TX. After submitting a full list of items, Iris came back with an estimate of $3238.20 total estimated cost. We selected this company because we were initially told that All Over the States would be performing the move. We paid $800.00 to All Over The States, leaving a total balance of $2438.20. We were told we had to pay the driver $819.00 of the balance by money order on the day of pickup.
The driver was due to arrive for pickup on 4/23/08, but did not arrive until 4/25/08. When complaining about the late pickup (I was due in Texas to start a job on 4/28, and was transporting two vehicles making the trip a longer than usual one) we were then informed the actual company performing the move was Freedom Van Lines of Dallas, Texas. After arriving on 4/25/08, the driver did a walk through of the house, then proceeded to move 1 bedroom's furniture outside to the moving truck. At this point the driver told us that our furniture was heavy, and we were going to have to pay more. He suggested I call Isaac at Freedom Van Lines, which I did.
Isaac quoted me a move price of $4,975.00 which would be binding and would not exceed $4,975.00 if I agreed to it right then. Since I had to be in Texas on 4/28, I felt I had no choice but agree to it, but would not be able to pay the full balance as we were not informed until right then of the increase in price. He said they would store the furniture for 30 days (which would be 6/25/08). I told Isaac that I would not be paid until 7/1/08, and he agreed to extend the free storage until 7/2/08. The furniture was then loaded, however in the process the movers bumped into the walls knocking holes in them, which we had to have repaired before we left the house, constant breaks, and smoking cigarettes inside the house, which we had asked them several times not to do since my wife contracts bronchitis easily. The loading of the truck began at approximately 5:00pm, and after many breaks, and being told we had to buy them dinner, the truck drove away from our house at approximately 4:00 A.M. On 4/26/08.
We began calling All Over The States on approximately 6/20/08 since we would be unable to pay the remaining balance to have our furniture delivered by 7/2/08 (we were catching up from other moving expenses and rental house deposits), We were told there was a 'vault charge' for storage according to the number of vaults we were being used. We asked how many vaults we were using, and we were told their computers were down and we would have to call back, which we did the next day. We were then told we needed to talk to Isaac, but he was in a meeting. We left our number for him to call us back. He did not call back that day. We called the next Monday (that day being a Saturday), and we were told that he was out to lunch, and we left our number again for him to call back, which he did not do. We called on 7/3/08, and was told Isaac would be back at 6:00. When we called at 6:00, Isaac was still unavailable, but the person we were talking to, named Hezi, said he was the owner and could take care of us. We told him the entire story of the move and the problems we had regarding the last-minute price increase from the 'firm' quote we had received, the movers knocking holes in the wall, the pickup delay of three days, the movers smoking cigarettes inside the house, and us being forced to feed the movers. Hezi told us he would talk to Iris, and if the items they picked up were all listed on the item list we gave to Iris at All Over The States, he would work with us to get our furniture the next day. We had to remind him the next day was a holiday, and he said we could receive our furniture the day after, which was 7/5/08. He asked us to call him on 7/5/08 between 12 noon and 2:00 pm, and that he would be in the office then. We called on 7/5, and were told Hezi did not come in that day.
We called Monday, 7/7/08, and left a message for Hezi to call, and we waited two days with no return call. We made more phone calls through 7/14 without being able to contact Hezi. On 7/14 we were able to borrow the money stated on our contract we needed to have our furniture delivered to us. We called and spoke to Krista that day, asking her how much money we needed to have our furniture delivered. She quoted us $3,359.00 (the remaining amount on our contract). We requested delivery, which Krista said would occur on 7/20/08.
We called the company every day thereafter, confirming the delivery date and amount we needed to give the driver. On Thursday, 7/17/08, we called asking for Krista. Krista answered the line, and immediately put us through to Hezi. We asked Hezi to confirm our delivery date and amount, which he did, for $3,359.00 and confirmed the date of 7/20/08. He told us we needed to go to the Post Office and obtain a money order for that exact amount. On 7/19/08 we did so. Later on 7/19 I called Krista. She said she needed to confirm 'something' on our paperwork, and would call back, which she did an hour later. At this time she confirmed the delivery amount of $3,359.00, and that the furniture would be delivered around 2:00P.M. The next day.
On 7/20/08 at approximately 12:00 noon, Krista called saying the delivery would be delayed by a couple of hours, as they were still loading the truck. She then told me that we would have to have an extra $600.00 for storage costs. I told her that she and the owner had confirmed the price of $3,359.00 and that we were unable to pay any more than that. Krista denied ever telling us that price, and has said that Hezi has denied ever confirming us any price. Krista also wanted us to give her our credit card number for the remaining $600.00 she said is owed, which we were unable to do. Krista said if we did not pay the full cost, including the extra $600.00, they would unload the truck, and continue charging us storage fees. We agreed to pay the $3,359.00 (which we still believe to be unfair), but no more than that because we were not told this in advance.
On 7/20/08 I spoke with Isaac at Freedom Van Lines. He has denied ever offering anything beyond 30 days free storage. He said he called Hezi, and that Hezi denied ever offering us anything, and that he made a mistake when he gave us the final amount of $3,359.00. I explained to Isaac that I do not get paid until 8/1/08, and would be unable to give anything beyond the $3,359.00 requested. He told me that because the storage cycle stared on the 25th, it would cost us an additional $300.00 on 8/1/08.
The day after filing a report on ripoffreports.com, Isaac from Freedom Van Lines contacted me with an intimidating phone call, saying he assumed because we filed our report here, we did not want our furniture. I informed him that that was an inaccurate assumption, and that we want our furnutire, but for the amount that had been given to us. He accused me of trying to extort from Freedom Van Lines, and told me I was causing the business to lose customers. He also said that we were being given a $50 per month discount on the storage, which he was retroactively removing due to this report, because, according to him, it cannot be removed unless the company pays the site $15,000, and they were not going to do that. He yelled at me for a bit more, much of this with the owner Hezi yelling in the background.
When all was said and done, I arranged to have our things delivered on August 2nd, with us paying what they demanded. At this point we wanted our stuff, and I'm sure this is what they were counting on.
Our things did arrive August 2nd. Without exception, every box we had marked Fragile had either had heavy items set on top of (one box of dishes had fallen apart from the weight of what was on top of it). Fortunately we packed well, but that wasn't able to save quite a few items. Oddly enough, some boxes we had forgotten to mark as Fragile did not have a problem, and the fragile items in them were unharmed.
Also we have a 200 year old oak dining room table which they managed to break the legs on the base. This is a table that has been through many moves, including a move from Germany to Texas some years back. We are at a complete loss as to how it could have happened unless either 1) something EXTREMELY heavy was put on the base (this is a base I played hard on as a child, with no damage coming to it at all), or 2) deliberately damaged. We are filing our claim with their insurance, although based on other reports I've seen on Anthem Claims Management, I expect we'll get the runaround from them.
The movers did a somewhat decent job, although I still question the wisdom of bringing in all of the boxes then trying to move the furniture in around the boxes. Isaac had assured me that they would reassemble the furniture that had been taken apart for the move (bed, dresser, etc.). Apparently he forgot to mention this to the delivery guys. They thought they were finished when we told them they needed to reassemble, per Isaac. They got very upset because they were already behind their schedule, but (and this is important) they did go ahead and reassemble everything, and did a good job at it. This is important because this has been the only time that anyone from Freedom Van Lines has done ANYTHING that someone from the company said would be done as it was supposed to be done. Isaac, you owe them a 'thank you' for following through on something you said.
There have been a couple of reports on other scam-beware sites praising Freedom Van Lines. These reports are being called out as being frauds. (See http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php? P=116076) If they would put some of that effort into running a reputable company, they might not be popping up all over the web with bad reports on them.
All in all, a very unpleasant experience at best, and several lessons learned on our part. We will never again take what someone tells us as the way it will be until we have it in writing. We will NEVER trust anything that anyone from Freedom Van Lines tells us.
If you're moving, do yourself a favor and fully research any companies you're considering. Also, DO NOT go with a company you find on the internet, unless you're doing a simple yellow pages search.
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